Synoptic Maps of Solar Wind: Comparison of IPS Data and the NOAA/SEC Version of the Wang and Sheeley Model |
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| Authors: | Balachandran Bala |
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| Institution: | (1) Instituto de Geofisica, Universiad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, D.F. 04510 , México |
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| Abstract: | Since the 1970s, the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Japan, has been publishing synoptic maps of solar wind velocity prepared using the technique of interplanetary scintillation. These maps, known as V-maps, are useful to study the global distribution of solar wind in the heliosphere. As the Earth-orbiting satellites are unable to probe regions outside the ecliptic, it is important to exploit the scope of interplanetary scintillation to study the solar wind properties at these regions and their relation with coronal features. It has been shown by Wang and Sheeley that there exists an inverse correlation between rate of magnetic flux expansion and the solar wind velocity. The NOAA/Space Environment Center daily updated version of the Wang and Sheeley model has been used to produce synoptic maps of solar wind velocity and magnetic field polarity for individual Carrington rotations. The predictions of the model at 1 AU have been found to be in good agreement with the observed values of the same. The present work is a comparison of the synoptic maps on the source surface using the interplanetary scintillation measurements from Japan and the NOAA/SEC version of the Wang and Sheeley model. The two results agree near the equatorial regions and the slow solar wind locations are consistent most of the times. However, at higher latitudes within ±60°, the wind velocities differ considerably. In the Wang and Sheeley model the highest speed obtained is  600 km s–1 whereas in the IPS results velocities as high as 800 km s–1 have been detected. The paper discusses the possible causes for this discrepancy and suggestion to improve the agreement between the two results. |
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